Sterling, Kansas Weather
Sterling, Kansas — live current conditions, hourly and 7-day forecasts, NWS alerts, radar and satellite imagery, soil and crop conditions for Sterling, Rice County.
Full aviation weather for Sterling is published on the Lyons-Rice County Municipal Airport (KLYO) page, 14 km away. It carries the current METAR decoded into plain language — surface wind, visibility, cloud layers and ceiling, temperature and dewpoint, and altimeter setting — alongside the raw observation as transmitted. 4 airfields within reach of Sterling have their own pages, listed below.
The Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF) is shown across its full validity period, with each change group broken out so you can see when conditions are expected to shift. Flight category is derived automatically — VFR, MVFR, IFR or LIFR — from reported ceiling and visibility, with runway details and field elevation alongside. Observations update roughly hourly and forecasts several times a day.
Other airports near Sterling: Hutchinson Municipal Airport (KHUT) 34 km · Mc Pherson Airport (KMPR) 48 km · Great Bend Municipal Airport (KGBD) 59 km
Conditions reported at KLYO describe the airfield itself. Weather 14 km away can differ, particularly in terrain or near the coast. For conditions at Sterling specifically, see the current conditions and forecast above.
Soil conditions, frost risk and crop weather for Sterling.
About Sterling, Kansas
Sterling rests on a wide, flat expanse of Kansas prairie, where the sky feels immense and the horizon stretches out in an unbroken line. It lies 18.3 miles north-west of Hutchinson, KS (from Hutchinson, KS: bearing 304°T), and is situated 9.3 miles south of Lyons. The land here is a study in subtle undulations, a gentle rise and fall that barely breaks the vastness, giving way to fields of wheat and corn that shimmer gold and green under the immense sun. The air, especially in the late afternoon, carries a dry, clean scent, tinged with the faint, sweet perfume of ripening grain. Buildings in Sterling are predominantly low-slung and sturdy, their brickwork weathered by decades of sun and wind, giving the place a grounded, enduring character. The history of Sterling is written in the soil and the grain elevators that punctuate the skyline like stoic sentinels. Founded in the late 19th century, its growth was inextricably linked to the railroad and the rich agricultural potential of Rice County. The local economy still thrives on the bounty of the land, with wheat farming and related industries forming the backbone of Sterling's prosperity. This quiet agricultural focus lends Sterling a steady, unhurried rhythm, a place where the seasons dictate the pace of life. The town’s distinctive character is also shaped by its proud German heritage, a legacy that can still be felt in the community's strong sense of tradition and close-knit bonds.
Live animated radar for Sterling and surroundings — RainViewer.
NOAA GOES-16 GEOCOLOR — live animated loop updated every 10 minutes. Shows cloud cover, storm systems and weather patterns across the continental US.
Source: NOAA/NESDIS GOES-East · Public domain · Auto-updates on page reload
| Location | Sterling, Rice County, Kansas |
| Coordinates | 38.210011°N, 98.207006°W |
| Timezone | Central Time (America/Chicago) |
| ZIP Code(s) | 67579 |
| Area Code | 785 |
| Page generated | September 2026 |
| Weather data | Open-Meteo (open-source), NOAA National Weather Service |
About This Sterling, Kansas Weather Page
This page provides live weather conditions and forecasts for Sterling, Kansas, including current conditions, a 24-hour hourly forecast, 7-day outlook, NWS extended text forecast, precipitation radar and NOAA GOES-16 satellite imagery. Aviation weather — live METAR observations and TAF forecasts — is published separately on the pages for the nearest reporting airports, linked from the aviation section above. Additional sections may include tide predictions, wave height, wave direction and sea-surface temperature, a barometric pressure trend, and a solunar-based fishing forecast with a fishing-conditions rating for coastal localities, and soil temperature, crop weather and live USGS river gauge data for agricultural areas near a monitored waterway. All data updates automatically on every page visit.
Location data for Sterling includes coordinates 38.210011°N, 98.207006°W, situated in Rice County. ZIP code 67579. Telephone area code: 785. Timezone: Central Time (America/Chicago).
Weather data is sourced from the NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) and the open-source Open-Meteo API. River and stream data is sourced from the USGS National Water Information System. Tide predictions are sourced from NOAA CO-OPS; marine and solunar data are modeled from Open-Meteo and public sunrise/moon calculations and should be treated as a general guide alongside on-the-water conditions. Radar is provided by RainViewer. Satellite imagery is sourced from NOAA/NESDIS GOES-East and is public domain.
